Don't Need Enemies
by OneWayToLearn
Summary: Ever heard the phrase: The road to hell is paved with good intentions? Alya wants her ships to sail. Nino wants a break. Gabriel wants to help his son. Plagg wants to have fun. Tikki is not helping. Neither Marinette's parents. Everyone wants the best for them. (Except maybe Plagg) At least they think so...
1. Third wheel in a love square

Nino was so done.

He sat in his usual seat waiting for his friends to come. Most of the times he would be waiting on the school steps for the others, but as an early akuma attack occurred in the morning hours, the boy couldn't be sure if any of his friends would show up in time so he had rather came inside and took his respective place in the front row. Why all of his friends had to have 'extracurricular activities'?

Slowly other students walked inside, and suddenly Adrien appeared in the door too, a little breathless. The blond collected himself and greeted him cheerfully and full of energy as always. ''Morning Nino! Why are you inside? I thought we would meet on our usual spot." The boy asked with a worried expression.

'Oh hell, he is either worried about my health or if he perhaps did something.' Nino sighed. He couldn't really stay grumpy or his sunshine boy will blame himself. So instead of sulking over his friends ditching him for akuma attacks - that they didn't know he knew except Alya – he answered him just as cheerfully.

''Don't sweat it, bro! I just felt like coming inside. You know with the akuma outside…"

''But the akuma was at least six blocks away from here." Adrien said confused.

''But every time an akuma shows up all of you are late." Nino pointed out with a tired expression, placing his head in his palm as he rested one of his arm on the table.

The blond's eyes widened for a second but he fast recovered and gave him a nervous chuckle. ''You know how is it… The traffic is horrible at akuma attacks."

Seeing as Adrien scratched the back of his neck, the nervous habit he knew all too well, he didn't know how the others didn't notice it yet. In case of the other two explanations he always received from his friends he wasn't this frustrated over the obvious lie. The 'I had to record the fight, it goes to my blog!' was the simple truth as bad as it was and the 'I am sorry, I overslept again!' and the other borderline crazy explanations Marinette came up with like 'my clothes caught on fire', 'I thought I was pregnant, but it was just a dream', 'my dog ate my shoes' were kind of accepted lies, nobody was expecting the truth from ever-late Marinette and her flawless creativity always brought some entertainment. Even if she looked nervous nobody had any suspicion.

But when it came to Adrien, he wanted to pull on his hair. Why? Why nobody saw the obvious? The boy's body language was practically screaming 'I am lying' for god's sake! And he had so many people following his every movement, like his controlling father, his bodyguard, his assistant, his countless fans! Speaking of that bodyguard he obviously knew something.

But the most frustrating of them all was Alya. She wanted to unmask the two heroes all the time, and was friends with both of them so how? Just how? How did she miss this?! She was always on the scene when it came to akuma attacks, tailed the heroes all the time, even stalked them, knew their voices, their appearances up close, and was best friends with one of them!

Nino groaned inwardly.

Then suddenly loud footsteps could be heard coming to their class room and a certain girl slammed right into the blond's back who still stood in the doorway.

''Sorry, I wasn't looking..." She started then looked up at the model ''Adrien!" She shrieked, blushed furiously and fell back to the floor.

Nino took it all back. Marinette's obliviousness was way more frustrating than Alya's. The girl had a colossal crush on his buddy, had an army of posters decorating her walls – Alya made him swore he would never ever, not on his death bed will tell anyone – had his schedule memorized and stalked him not only one occasion. And most importantly she was his partner, they knew each other better than anyone! Or supposed to. So how didn't Marinette see it? Could love really make someone blind to this extent?

''Don't worry Marinette. I should be the one apologizing, I stood in the way." Adrien said with a warm smile, reaching out a hand to help her up. She hesitantly took it and he helped her to her feet, but didn't let go. They stood there, staring at each other for a long moment, Marinette redder with every second, until Alya's hands landed on her shoulders and shook her out of her stupor.

''Come on girl, class is about to start!" The brunette dragged her best friend to their seat with a knowing smirk.

Okay, how dense Adrien was about Marinette's crush on him could definitely rival with her obliviousness. Not to mention the blond obviously had no clue about the girl who sat behind him in class being his superhero partner and 'the love of his life'.

Before class could start Alya was constantly blabbering about her excitement over the 'Miraculous Contest' that was an event meant to rise foundation for mental health care for akumatized victims and others who were left with anxiety after the attacks. As it turned out many people couldn't simply forget the trauma that an akuma attack caused, many needed treatment. So the mayor – in fact Alya, but she chose to give up the glory to help to rise more money – had came up with the idea of this contest. People could offer things for the auction or money directly to help, and in the end the whole thing was a huge success. As bad as the mayor was sometimes, he made a huge media attention for the event, and after Chat Noir and Ladybug promised in an interview that out of all the people who made some kind of offering for the cause two would be chosen and will have an afternoon with the heroes, the donations skyrocketed.

''Can you believe it? Two lucky fellows will have the opportunity to spend an entire afternoon with our heroes!" Alya squeaked in delight. ''Can you imagine what I could do with them during that afternoon!"

Adrien and Marinette groaned in unison. Nino smirked.

''And that's why our heroes are probably happy that over a thousand people are participating in the contest. There is a low chance they will get stuck with you for one whole hell of an afternoon." Nino said in a joking manner. Marinette and Adrien laughed while Alya scoffed at her boyfriend.

''I am still a better option than Chloe. She is acting like her victory is certain for days now! She was blabbering about spending the day in a spa with the heroes or in her private weekend house." The brunette's annoyance was obvious and she glared daggers at the said blonde. Nino looked at his two other friends from the corner of his eyes and couldn't help a small smile as both of them froze in place, slowly turning their heads in the direction of Chloe. The fear was so evident in their eyes that the musician chuckled. 'Poor guys, Ladybug's luck help you all'.

''Anyway, we all have a chance for winning, right?" Alya turned back to her friends. She was right. Nino offered a new mix to the auction, Marinette made an amazing dress and Adrien put in some money. People kept saying him that he could just give some autographed photos, but he was adamant to avoid that at all cost and keep himself from the embarrassment.

In fact almost everybody from their school and all of their classmates participated with something. Chloe, of course, offered more than one luxurious item for the auction like golden bracelet and earrings, designer clothes and various vip tickets, but in the end in the spirit of fairness they only counted as one, so she had no more chance than the others. On the surface it was true, but everyone who knew the girl knew as well that she was up to something yet again.

''Do you think she rigged the contest somehow?" Alya asked on a low voice.

''I hope she didn't." Adrien mumbled under his breath while Mari narrowed her eyes at Chloe.

''I wouldn't put it past her."

''Let's hope for the best and prepare for the worst!" Said the Dj as encouragement as he knew the real reason behind their quiet desperate expressions.

''They can get one whole afternoon with me or with Chloe. Heaven and hell walk hand in hand." The brunette sighed shaking her head dramatically. Her friends looked at her with a deadpan expression. ''What?" She asked but before anyone could answer or she could continue her rambling, Mlle Bustier walked into the classroom. All eyes were on her. She prepared the projector for the great announcement. It turned out that the blonde girl persuaded her father to time the whole thing on Friday morning during class so everybody can witness as she wins the special prize. Watching their faces and show it off for everyone was the blonde's greatest pleasure.

''I think everyone knows that before class starts mayor Bourgeois will announce the winners who get the chance to spend their time with Ladybug and Chat Noir. I know everyone of you are excited, but please, keep your calm until class is over." She said calmly then the screen came to life. In front of Le Grande Paris hotel André Bourgeois stood tall and proud, surrounded by reporters and cameras, he smiled at the crowd and started his speech.

It was the usual meaningless political blabbering about how important was this event and how much the mayor cared for the cause, nobody really cared, not even Chloe, until came the exciting part. ''-and now comes the announcement that everybody have been waiting for!"

Heads shot up, eyes glued to the screen as mayor Bourgeois stepped to a giant glass bowl with all the names written on little papers inside. Almost all the papers were the same size, but one at the top stood out weirdly. Everybody glared at Chloe, but the blonde simply smirked at them.

'So this is how you play this game…' Muttered Nino to himself annoyed, but suddenly he saw movement from the corner of his eyes. The little black cat-thing peeked out from Adrien's bag again, without the model's notice. 'Why would he ever notice his cat-fairy got loose again?' The Dj deadpanned. Why couldn't his best friend keep his magical buddy under control. Or at least keep an eye on it, and notice when something was off. He sighed. Adrien was the embodiment of denseness, of course he didn't notice. Really, how the hell was his identity still a secret?

Then he saw the little thing mutter something like 'we will see that, you little brat' and the cat-fairy's eyes shone up. Nino looked back at the screen and watched as the mayor reached inside the glass bowl and caught the weirdly big paper, but it slipped from his fingers and got lost between thousand others. Chloe groaned. The man tried to find it again in vain, and he had to stop eventually when the reporters questioned what takes him so much time, just choose already. So he flashed an apologetic smile, then brought up two small folded papers. He smiled as he unfolded the first one, but his face visibly paled as he did so to the other. He gulped and coughed nervously.

Nino looked at the small creature again. Just what had he done?

''And the two lucky persons who can spend an afternoon with Ladybug and Chat Noir are Adrien Agreste and Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

Chloe screamed.

Alya squealed.

Adrien grinned.

Marinette paled.

The cat-fairy snickered.

Then a cookie hit its head and it ducked back to the bag.

Nino waited patiently till it hit his dude too, and couldn't possible hide his snickers when the blond finally paled. 'Yeah, definitely Ladybug is the brain' he told himself and had to use both of his hands to stifle his laughter as his best friend shot up and yelled.

''I am not free on that day!"

Everybody turned in his direction confused.

''Adrien, the day is not decided yet, so what are you talking about?" Alya said raising an eyebrow at him.

''Oh, right. I was just… you know…" The model tried to find the words, awkwardly coughing as he failed. Nino amusedly shook his head. He couldn't believe this guy. His dude got paler with every second, and he was about to help the poor boy somehow when Marinette chimed in, stopping the stammering blond.

''Adrien, would it be too much to ask of me…" She said unsurely.

''What?" Adrien turned to face her, hope tingled in his eyes. Nino was curious to know what kind of idea the bluenette came up with.

''Could we meet the heroes separately?"

''No, Mari!'' Alya grabbed her arm from the side, but she ignored the brunette.

''Why?" The blond asked confused and his best friend face-palmed. 'Why can't my bro just take an escape when it's offered to him?'

''You know… I want to meet Chat Noir alone. He kind of saved me a few times now, and my parents would like to invite him for diner." She smiled, proud of her pretty believable lie.

'Yeah, she is definitely the brain out of the two' Nino smiled. Even if this situation he found himself in was quiet annoying most of the time – especially because he couldn't tell anyone – but it still felt nice to know something his friends didn't.

''No, Marinette! You can't ruin my OTP!" Alya whined again shaking the bluenette, but was still ignored.

''But don't you want to meet Ladybug as well?" Asked the blond, still confused.

'Why? Just why bro?' The Dj screamed inside in frustration.

''I already met Ladybug a few times." Marinette smiled awkwardly. Nino looked at her with sympathy.

''As well as Chat Noir." Adrien pointed out.

''Well… I am a huge Chat Noir fan?" The girl asked uncertainly.

''Really?" The blond's eyes shone with glee, his entire feature radiating from happiness.

'Like a puppy, or should I say kitty?' Smiled the Dj to himself and amusedly shook his head.

Mari was surprised, but as she saw his happy face, she gave him a bright smile and told him.''Uhm, really of course!"

''If you want to have some alone time with him, you could just say that from the start." Alya chimed in, still pouting, and her two friends turned pink on the cheeks.

''No way, Alya! We… we will be with my f-family, no alone time!" The bluenette stammered out quickly gesturing wildly with her arms. ''If Adrien wants to come, he can! Right, Adrien? Wanna come too?"

''N-No! I am fine! You meet with Chat and I meet with LB!" The blond said nervously, tripping on his words with just as much weird arm moves as Marinette a moment ago. Yes, he was anxious to get out of this situation, but his expression changed like he remembered something and added with a smile. ''You can come to meet Ladybug with me if you want though."

Nino groaned.

''No!" Mari yelled with wide eyes, but calmed herself down immediately and changed back to a friendly tone. ''You are really kind, but it won't be fair. Each one of us meet one of the heroes, it's decided!" She clasped her hands together.

Adrien seemed a little disappointed, but quickly covered it with a smile and asked. ''And when should meet them?"

''That doesn't matter, just not at the same time…" She muttered to herself.

''What did you just say?" Adrien leaned closer with curiously.

''Nothing!" Mari raised her arms defensively and he straightened back with a frown. ''I meet Chat on Sunday and you can hook up with Ladybug on Saturday, how is that?" She asked and tried to be as cheerful as she could be and not make Adrien sad again.

''Ho-ho-hook up?" The blond almost fell out of his seat.

''Noooo! I didn't me-mean to say that! Oh my gosh, I am so sorry!" At this point both of them were red like a tomato and both Nino and Alya laughed clutching their stomachs.

''Don't be sorry, I am okay with that!" Blurted out Adrien that caused Nino to finally fall out of the bench, and Alya was hitting the table with her fist.

''What?!" Mari's eyes widened and the blond's face morphed into horror.

''No! I didn't mean like that! I will just enjoy Ladybug's companion, just like I would yours!" He shouted realizing too late what his words implied. His eyes widened and there was no way that more blood could flow into either of their faces.''In a friendly way! I meant in a friendly way!"

''Stop Agreste! You will kill Mari!" Alya hit him in the arm silencing him before he could say another word and humiliate himself even more. He buried his face into his hands, giving out an inhuman noise. Marinette was still shell-shocked, eyes wide, mouth agape, a furious blush covering her face.

'Poor Mari, I think Adrien broke her' chucked to himself Nino as he gave a sympathetic pat on the shoulder to his best bud.

''Heads up, bro! We know exactly what you meant!"

''Thanks Nino-''

''Just use protection, alright?" He flashed him an evil smirk.

''Nino!"

Oh, it was so sweet to tease them. It almost made up for all the bullshit he had to endure, seeing the two of them dance around each other. If he only knew…

His smirk left his face as soon as he saw Alya glaring daggers at him. He gulped and turned to the front where he saw a very annoyed Mlle Bustier glaring at them with equal force.

''If the four of you finished your conversation I would continue with class."

''Sorry Mlle Bustier…" They murmured steadying themselves except Marinette who was still too shocked to do anything.

The class went on forcing everyone to keep quiet, saving the awkward conversations for later, but they weren't half way through the lesson, when the tell-tale screams could be heard.

'And the countdown begins for lame excuses…3…2…1…'

''I have to save my cat from the akuma!" cried out Mari.

''I have to use the toilet asap!" shouted Adrien.

''I have to record the attack for my blog!" yelled Alya.

Nino chuckled at his girlfriend's straightforwardness, and had to give credit to the blond for a lame but actually believable excuse. On the other hand what was Marinette even thinking at times like this? Saving her cat for the akuma? But…if he thought about the deeper meaning of this, it was kind of hilarious. 'Please, let me save that idiotic cat-boy before he gets himself killed!' He had to stifle his laughter again as so many times during this day. 'Poor Chat, he isn't really appreciated, but at least Ladybug cares for him.'

They got an arched eyebrow from Mlle Bustier, but she eventually had to dismiss class, when the akuma broke inside the school. The four of them ran out of class at the same time and Nino saw as his two friends started to run in the same direction. Should he help or should he just let it happen as it was destined to happen someday? In the end he caught Adrien's arm and dragged him and Alya in the opposite direction, then when they were far enough he let go of his best friend, tossing him into an empty classroom, ignoring his started yelp.

The Dj ran off, dragging a protesting Alya with him and was thinking about why he had to play identity guardian with his friends when he had enough on his plate with his girlfriend already. As it turned out said girlfriend had enough of him too, as she bit into his arm successfully releasing herself from his grip, and vanished with her phone in her hand recording a moment later.

He groaned. Why was all of this happening to him?

The next half an hour was spent on searching for Alya and dragging and pushing her out of the akuma's way. In the end, he lost her again and was in the locker room when he heard 'Miraculous Ladybug' and saw the pink energy flowing through the city fixing everything. He let out a sigh of relief. At least all of his friends were out of trouble for now. But before he could leave the locker room and go back to class he heard a loud crash. He turned in its direction to see two superheroes on the floor, entangled with each other.

''Sorry my Lady, I am about to transform back and I was looking for-'' Chat Noir spluttered out red-faced, but was cut off my Ladybug.

''Me too Chat, but move! We will reveal our identity this way!" Ladybug said as she tried to free herself from her partner, and was that a blush on her cheeks? No way, Nino had to imagine things. Anyway the two heroes finally got up and ran off in the opposite directions. The Dj sighed. 'Those two…'

But his bad luck hadn't run out just yet, because not even half a minute after the duo left and Nino thought he finally had the chance to leave, the black cat-fairy flew into the locker room, zipping straight to Adrien's locker. Before the little thing could reach it another little fairy – but this one was red – stopped it midair and the cat-thing whined.

''My Camembert!"

''Stop it Plagg, I have to talk to you!" The bug-creature – probably Ladybug's fairy – hit an annoyed tone.

''Can't it wait? I have to eat, I'll starve to death!" The black cat whined again.

''Oh, please! Chat didn't even use cataclysm this time!" The red bug rolled its eyes.

''Still starving." The cat-thing tried to free itself but the bug-thing caught it by its tail and pulled it back.

''Why did you do that?" The red creature narrowed its eyes.

''What?" The other looked up innocently.

''Don't play the innocent! Your little trick risked their identities!"

''Oh that? They will find out eventually someday. I am kind of surprised they didn't up to now. It's not like they are good at hiding things or anything." The black cat-thing gave a tired expression to its companion. Nino had to agree. It was a mystery to him how those two still didn't accidentally revealed their identities to the world, let alone their partners. Maybe this was the real miracle from the miraculous?

''But you did it for fun!"

''I did it to help and entertain myself."

''You didn't want to help them!"

''I wanted to help myself to some entertainment."

The bug-fairy groaned and was seemingly about to unleash its wrath when the two of them finally caught sight of Nino. Three pairs of wide eyes were staring at each other, an awkward silence hung in the air until the boy spoke up.

''You know… you are not really good at hiding yourself either." He said and walked away.

As he walked out of the locker room he could hear the two of them exchange words.

''Should we tell Adrien and Marinette about this?"

''Nah, what they don't know won't hurt them. And the dude is chill."

The other groaned, but didn't say anything more.

It was lunch break when Alya dragged him with her still pouting and sulking because of the events of that morning. She wanted to interrogate Marinette and Adrien but both of them knew better and fled when they still had the chance, so she was stuck with Nino. Or Nino was stuck with her as she used him as a source of consolation and constantly complained about the other two.

''I can't believe them, Nino! This was the perfect chance and they ruined everything!''

''Alya, is not that bad."

''Not that bad?! My OTP was granted to spend an entire afternoon with each other without an akuma to fight and then it got even better and my other OTP was forced to be in each other's presence as well!"

''Doesn't OTP mean 'one true pairing'? How can you have two of them?"

''I can if I want!" She narrowed her eyes at her boyfriend who threw up his arms in defense. ''My main point is that both LadyNoir and Adrinette could go cannon, and now they won't even meet!" She cried out in frustration. ''They could spend a whole afternoon together, have fun, bond and give me amazing pics with all the four of them on the photos!

'If you only knew…' Nino thought, but he could understand that from her point of view the entire situation was ruined. If he didn't do something she was going to be like this for at least two weeks. Two weeks with a sulking Alya? He felt a chill running down his spine. He had to do something to keep everybody sane. He wanted to help her, but bringing the 'four' of them together was simply impossible, because there were only two persons in this goddamn love square.

Suddenly he had an idea.

''Why don't you ship them like this?"

''Huh?"

''Why don't you ship Marinette with Chat Noir and Adrien with Ladybug too?"

''I can't ship Adrien with Ladybug! I would betray my best friend that way!"

'No, you won't.' He wanted to say but he came up with this instead. ''Okay, but you can still ship Marinette and Chat Noir. It's not like my bro showed any interest in Mari up to now, and Chat Noir is a hero, worthy of Marinette, right?"

''Hm, you definitely have a point. But Chat Noir is in love with Ladybug."

''But it's kind of the same for Chat as Marinette. Both in an unrequited love. They could be happy with each other. And even if LadyNoir and Adrinette don't go cannon, you still have a ship to sail."

''A new ship…" Alya's eyes shone up and determination set on her face. ''MariChat! I ship Marichat! This will be the best ship ever! The princess and the knight! Thanks Nino!" She gave him a kiss that left him speechless as his girlfriend ran off who knows where.

He stood still for a few second and contemplated on how the hell he became a third wheel in a love square.


	2. Intact soul and calm body

Adrien was having a good day. No, good would be an understatement as he was completely overjoyed. He had a wonderful day. It could have been even one of the best days of his life, if Plagg hadn't woke him up. Throwing a sock at his face. That stunk like Camembert. At 5 am. While screaming.

The little pest had devoured all the cheese in his room, even the last emergency wheel of that stinky barely eatable thing that he was hiding under his socks. But it was clear as day that he should find a new – more Plagg-safe – place to hide them before no Camembert was left in the house. And after his whisper-shouting contest with the kwami about self-control and acceptable behavior was over – that lasted at least for 30 minutes – the akuma alert from the ladyblog went off and he had to go and help his Lady fight the newest victim of Hawkmoth. Normally seeing Ladybug would lift his mood even in those early hours, but she was acting weird: she avoided eye-contact and they had barely exchanged three sentence with each other. She must had been grumpy because of her lost sleep, Adrien told himself, but couldn't shake off some of his worries.

So maybe his morning hadn't been the best, but the rest of the day was totally worth all the trouble in the early hours.

All good thing started with an overly adorable classmate running into him in the doorway.

''Sorry, I wasn't looking..." Came her soft, angelic voice that made him warm inside and he couldn't stop the smile that spread across his face. Then she looked up at him as she was trying to stand up with those beautiful bluebell eyes and they widened immediately. ''Adrien!" She shrieked and an adorable hue of red covered her cheeks, highlighting her cute freckles. He couldn't stop himself and was staring at her, his only luck was that his back was facing Nino, so his friend couldn't see him shamelessly staring at their friend. If Nino noticed he would never let him live it down. Even worse, he may tell Alya. That would be truly an unholy sight.

Luckily he was able to answer in a calm enough voice. ''Don't worry Marinette. I should be the one apologizing, I stood in the way." He still smiled at her and held out his hand and she took it, but even after he helped her up, they didn't let go of each other. He held her hand, thinking how soft and delicate it was and how he wanted to hold it a lot longer than she would anticipate or allow him. After all they weren't really close. Or not close enough for his liking.

He had always kind of adored her, but in the last two months they had spent a lot more time with each other thanks to their best friends – it was like they were trying to get them together or something, but he immediately dismissed the idea, because why would they do something like that? – and had gotten closer. They became real friends, and with that he got very attached to her. But for some reason or another she was still nervous around him, and the only answer to her behavior – according to him – was that she didn't really like him just put up with him to not cause any discomfort to their friends. After all she had the kindness of an angel. Sometimes he even thought she hated him, but he quickly forced down the unpleasant idea. He didn't want to even think about the possibility.

But sometimes he felt like she didn't dislike him that much. He could even swear that there were times he thought she actually liked him in some way. Adrien just didn't know what to make of her behavior. The mystery of one Marinette Dupain-Cheng caused many sleepless nights to him.

Sadly their gentle touch couldn't last forever as Alya interrupted them and dragged Marinette to their seats. He groaned inwardly upon the loss of warmth, but without any indication of his discomfort he took his spot next to Nino as well.

Then Alya was blabbering about this whole contest thing while Marinette was drawing in her sketchbook ignoring most of her best friend's enthusiasm. She grumbled and ripped out some pages, formed them into balls and threw them inside her bag to later deposit them into a trash can, but sometimes she missed her target and crumpled papers rolled on the floor right next to Adrien's foot. He eyed the piece of paper and fought an inner battle with himself, but in the end the temptation was too great and he could always play it off as curiosity if he got caught. So he bent down and carefully grabbed the crumpled sketch. He sneaked a glance at his surrounding if any of his friends or Chloe had noticed, but relaxed as he found none of them was looking. Chloe was rambling about her new designer shoes or something, Marinette still madly sketched while Nino had the honorable role of constant audience to his girlfriend's blabbering, all of them pretty immersed in their own activities. Adrien half pitied and half envied his friends' relationship. They were happy together but listening to Alya all day had to be tiresome for sure.

Now that he could feel himself safe from prying eyes he carefully unfolded and straightened the drawing and he couldn't find the fault why Marinette disposed it. It was the sketch of a beautiful red dress, the color of his Lady, and it was just perfect. Marinette was perfect. She was so talented, so amazing, so pretty…

And with this thought his everlasting inner battle began. Adrien felt himself as some utterly incorrigible flirt, a womanizer, an unfaithful tom cat. He still loved his Lady, his amazing, brave and beautiful partner, but couldn't bring himself to forget his bubbling feelings towards his adorable, talented and just as amazing classmate. He was the worst and Plagg was not helping. Every time he voiced his inner turmoil to him, the kwami only gave him a very unimpressed look, then rolled his eyes and found his way back to his Camembert. Adrien grumbled. Plagg was so useless in times like this.

He quietly sighed then looked back at the newest piece of his – not in the least creepy – Marinette collection that he kept in a box under his bed labeled 'my precious'. The thought that he got another treasure to look at while constantly sighing like a lovestuck kitten inside the safety of his room filled him with determination. He was going to have a real conversation with her today!

''Can you believe it? Two lucky fellow will have the opportunity to spend an entire afternoon with our heroes!" Alya's delighted squeak brought him back to reality and he turned back his attention to his friend while sinking the sketch into his bag without being suspicious. ''Can you imagine what I could do with them during that afternoon!"

He groaned. Of course, it would be just wonderful to be interrogated all day by the aspiring journalist instead of finally spending some quality time with his Lady outside akuma attacks and other crime fighting.

''And that's why our heroes are probably happy that over a thousand people are participating in the contest. There is a low chance they will get stuck with you for one whole hell of an afternoon." Nino said in a joking manner and they all laughed except Alya who scoffed at him.

''I am still a better option than Chloe. She is acting like her victory is certain for days now! She was blabbering about spending the day in a spa with the heroes or in her private weekend house." The brunette stated, clearly annoyed, but her annoyance was nothing compared the dread Adrien felt at that moment. A whole afternoon spent with Chloe? He still shuddered every time the memory of the afternoon during the Evillustrator incident came to his mind. Now that he thought about it, did Nathaniel still held feelings for his Princess. He sneaked a glance at the guy and narrowed his eyes. He had to find out.

''Anyway, we all have a chance for winning, right?" He heard as Alya said this and turned his attention back on the topic again. Her words gave him some hope. All of his friends offered something, even he did. Of course, it was just money, but he wasn't about to give an autograph or something like that. That would be ridiculous, like a piece of paper with his signature really did worth something. Not like the dress Marinette made. He would definitely get that one to his collection!

He would lie if he said he wasn't excited about spending time with Ladybug. He wanted to see her, to be around her all the time. She always brightened his mood. But he had to come in terms with his unrequited affection towards her. She clearly not felt the same way, and in the last few weeks her behavior around him got even weirder. Sometimes he flirted with her and she would flirt back, then turned bright red and vaulted herself away without as much as a 'goodbye', leaving him standing there speechless. Was he that horrible to be around? Then there were times when she just stared at him with an immerse intensity and he was clueless as why. When she realized that she got caught she immediately turned around and again, acted really weird. He wanted to figure it out, but during akuma attacks or patrols it was simply impossible. This afternoon was his only chance to spend quality time with her and get to the bottom of this problem, and this made him pretty nervous. It couldn't be that she wanted a new partner, could it?

''Do you think she rigged the contest somehow?" Alya's question got him back from his thoughts yet again.

He cringed at the idea. ''I hope she didn't."

Adrien saw as Marinette narrowed her eyes at his childhood friend. ''I wouldn't put it past her."

''Let's hope for the best and prepare for the worst!" Nino said encouragingly, and the blond really hoped his best friend was right.

''They can get one whole afternoon with me or with Chloe. Heaven and hell walk hand in hand." The reporter said dramatically and they all turned in her direction with a deadpan expression. ''What?"

Then Mlle Bustier walked inside and she started to talk about the contest. Adrien toned all of this out, daydreaming about a calm and relaxing afternoon with Marinette while they reorganized his collection together with lots of laugh and giggles, she wearing the dress she made herself and then they had a fine dinner and a romantic tour to the Eiffel tower, him as Chat holding her tightly to his firm chest and looking into her bluebell eyes and then she told him she was Ladybu- No! This was wrong! This was all wrong, he shouldn't be thinking about nonsense like that! Why would they have a dinner in another place, when they could have a picnic on the top of the Eiffel tower from the start? That would be more romantic. Just the two of them. He sighed contently, not paying attention to his surrounding until he heard his own name.

''And the two lucky persons who can spend an afternoon with Ladybug and Chat Noir are Adrien Agreste and Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

His head shot up. He could hear from his right side as Chloe screamed with displeasure but he couldn't care less. He was completely overjoyed. He would spend a whole afternoon with both Marinette and his Lady! This couldn't have turned out better! Then realization came to his mind and he paled. How would he endure an entire afternoon with both Marinette and his Lady present?! That would be cuteness overload! He couldn't possibly survive with the two of them in the same room!

''I am not free on that day!" He shot up like a bullet and suddenly every eyes in the classroom were on him.

''Adrien, the day is not decided yet, so what are you talking about?" Alya asked raising an eyebrow at him.

''Oh, right. I was just… you know…" The model tried to find the words, awkwardly coughing as he failed. Then he heard that angelic voice as Marinette spoke up and he immediately turned towards her with a smile.

''Adrien, would it be too much to ask of me…" She said unsurely.

Adrien looked at her so intently that even he noticed and had to remind himself to act natural. ''What?" Anything she wanted was his command.

''Could we meet the heroes separately?"

''Why?" The blond asked confused. Did she perhaps… wanted to avoid him? He dismissed the thought and put his focus back on her.

''You know… I want to meet Chat Noir alone. He kind of saved me a few times now, and my parents would like to invite him for dinner." She smiled.

''But don't you want to meet Ladybug as well?" Adrien was still confused. Why would anybody pass a chance to meet with Paris' most beloved superhero.

''I already met Ladybug a few times." Marinette smiled awkwardly.

''As well as Chat Noir." He pointed out.

''Well… I am a huge Chat Noir fan?" The girl asked uncertainly.

'What?! She really is a fan? Yes, she said that during the Evillustrator incident as well, it must be true!' Adrien had a small happy dance inside his mind while asked for a final confirmation from the girl. ''Really?"

He noticed as her eyes widened a little but she looked back at him with that radiant smile of hers and nodded. ''Uhm, really of course!"

''If you want to have some alone time with him, you could just say that from the start." This one of Alya's remarks finally got through Adrien's mind filter and he turned pink on the cheeks. Alone time with Marinette as Chat Noir? He was totally on board!

''No way, Alya! We… we will be with my f-family, no alone time!" The bluenette stammered out quickly gesturing wildly with her arms. ''If Adrien wants to come, he can! Right, Adrien? Wanna come too?"

Spend time with Marinette as both Adrien and Chat Noir? Awww, that would be so cool! Wait a minute… he was Chat Noir, he couldn't possible be there as both himself and his alter ego!

''N-No! I am fine! You meet with Chat and I meet with LB!" The blond said nervously, tripping on his words while weirdly moving his arms around. He should stop with that, he didn't want to embarrass himself in front of Marinette! Then a thought stuck him. It would be impolite if he hadn't offered the same thing to her, so he said with a smile.''You can come to meet Ladybug with me if you want though."

''No!" Mari yelled with wide eyes, but calmed herself down immediately and changed back to a friendly tone. ''You are really kind, but it wouldn't be fair. Each one of us meet one of the heroes, it's decided!" She clasped her hands together.

Was she really avoiding being with him? The idea made him somewhat sad, but he tried to cover it and asked. ''And when should we meet them?"

She muttered something under her breath what Adrien couldn't quiet make out. ''What did you just say?"

''Nothing!" Mari raised her arms defensively. He frowned. She was uncomfortable with him yet again. ''I will meet Chat on Sunday and you can hook up with Ladybug on Saturday, how is that?" She asked and tried to be cheerful for his sake. Why did she dislike him so much? Wait, what was…

''Ho-ho-hook up?" The blond almost fell out of his seat, images of him with his Lady on his bed in a compromising situation flashed through his unprepared mind.

''Noooo! I didn't me-mean to say that! Oh my gosh, I am so sorry!" Marinette almost yelled, her face red as a tomato.

'She is so innocent, she would never think about things like that. I am an utter pervert for getting the wrong idea.' Adrien scolded himself internally while blurting out his next words without a second thought as a sexy heroine in red spandex crossed his mind. ''Don't be sorry, I am okay with that!"

''What?!" The blond's face morphed into horror as his eyes caught sight of Marinette's socked expression.

''No! I didn't mean it like that! I will just enjoy Ladybug's companion, just like I would yours!" He shouted realizing too late what his words implied. His eyes widened and there was no way that more blood could flow into either of their faces.''In a friendly way! I meant it in a friendly way!"

''Stop Agreste! You will kill Mari!" Alya hit him in the arm silencing him before he could say another word and humiliate himself even more. He buried his face into his hands, giving out an inhuman noise. Marinette was still shell-shocked, eyes wide, mouth agape, a furious blush covering her face. What had he done?! She now knew how much an ultimate pervert he was and she would hate him forever or at least avoid him until they graduated!

''Heads up, bro! We know exactly what you meant!"

At least Nino was on his side. ''Thanks Nino-''

''Just use protection, alright?" He flashed him an evil smirk.

''Nino!" He yelled mortified.

Then thankfully this horrifying conversation came to an end when Mlle Bustier silenced them. He sighed in relief, but his relief was short lived as screams could be heard from the street outside, indicating another akuma attack was up. Their teacher sighed and dismissed class and they all ran outside into the hallway. When he looked around to find a place to transform, he spotted the akumatized victim and Marinette running straight in her direction at the same time. He palled and immediately took after her. Adrien gritted his teeth. 'Where the hell are you going, Princess…!'

But after a few steps he felt somebody yank him backwards and the boy found himself in his best friend's death grip. Before he could question or protest Nino pushed him inside an empty classroom and disappeared with Alya. Adrien grumbled, but decided it would be best to quickly transform and find Marinette before anything could happen to her. Already in suit he burst out of the classroom and ran right to the spot he had lost sight of his Princess, but she where nowhere to be found just his Lady already fighting with the akuma. He sighed. He was going to go and find Marinette right after they defeated this damn akuma. But now his Lady needed help.

The villain of the day wasn't that interesting or original. A waitress who got feed up with all the rude costumers and transformed into Wait&Rest – he appreciated the pun though -, an akuma who kept throwing exploding plates and overly sharp silverware. Luckily she wasn't a too difficult opponent so they could manage even with their pretty broken communication.

Honestly, he had no idea what was going on with Ladybug. She was just fine in one moment, looking at him normally and giving out commands as she explained her plan to him, then in the next one her eyes widened, she became all red – not her already red suit, but her entire face – and she fled from his side. She even ran into a wall once.

One lucky charm – a skate that made the akuma trip and her exploding plates fell back at her deciding the battle – and one 'Miraculous ladybug!' later they were both running around, trying to find a place to detransform before the other students returned to the school. He shouldn't be in hurry, he didn't have to use cataclysm, but he was still pretty worried about Marinette. That girl was hell-a clumsy. What if she tripped during the attack… no the Cure should have healed her then. But what if she was tripping now, rolling down the stairs, falling into a window, breaking the glass and with all the sharp shards around her she would fall to the hard cement, then a reckless drunk driver – who was a serial killer with murderous intention anyway – drove up to the sidewalk and crashed her delicate, fragile body with his monster truck.

The horrible image played around in his head so he wasn't paying attention his surrounding yet again and ran right into another body. They both crashed into the floor and rolled a little before they came to a halt and the two heroes looked at each other.

''Sorry my Lady, I am about to transform back and I was looking for-'' Chat Noir was so embarrassed. He was on top of his Lady, completely straddling her now and her body heat was amazing. He should stop those thoughts now!

''Me too Chat, but move! We will reveal our identities this way!" Ladybug said as she tried to free herself from her partner while a mad blush danced on her cheeks. When she finally got up, she immediately escaped to some unknown place to detransform and after a moment of hesitation while he was staring after her, he took off too to find his Princess before that horrible fate could befall on her.

For his utter distress he couldn't find her anywhere, not in any classrooms or hallways, not on the pavement lying in her own blood – for this latter one he was pretty grateful – and not in the locker room where he looked last. He couldn't find her until they crashed into each other in front of their classroom, giving a pretty strong sense of deja vu to both of them as they looked at each other. Marinette with her huge, bluebell eyes was looking up at him with her disheveled hair, her pink lips slightly open… He gulped before he got back to his senses and helped her up.

She quickly ran inside the room, muttering something really similar to 'how did I manage to fall into two boys I already fell for on the same day' then groaned. Hah, weird.

Until lunch break they couldn't even look at each other and this made Adrien anxious. What had he done to her again? Then again, he already knew he was socially awkward and probably missed some signals given to him. Or maybe he had gave some wrong signs at the wrong time. He couldn't know. Both Nino and Plagg was utterly useless on this matter, as the former only groaned at his repeated question 'why does Marinette dislike me so much?' and labelled him utterly clueless, the latter one did the same or laughed at his obliviousness. He didn't get any useful advice from either of them, and anyways, why exactly was he clueless or oblivious?

But when lunch break finally came, he had a new inner dilemma. Spending one afternoon with Ladybug as Adrien and one afternoon with Marinette as Chat Noir? How would he survive this utter madness with intact soul and calm body?


	3. Never deny cheese

Adrien woke up with a start and jumped out of his bed with ridiculous amount of energy. Today was the day!

Yesterday his Lady actually called to inform him about the turn of events he already knew about, but of course, Ladybug didn't know this. Now that he thought about it, where did his partner get all of this information? It was no secret that he – as Adrien – and Marinette won the prize, but how did she know that they split up the group meeting, making it into two separated occasions. His Lady sure had her sources… Maybe Alya had told her or something, but his partner was always surprisingly well informed about everything related to their class. Names, hobbies, events… And she knew Marinette so well… It couldn't be…!

They were siblings!

Then it struck him. Marinette was a single child. Maybe cousins then? A half-sister maybe from the past? He was going to get to the bottom of it someday. But today was not the day.

No, because today was the day he got a chance to impress his Lady as a civilian.

Their previous encounters were few in number and pretty superficial. A few run-ins during akuma attacks, nothing more. As Chat Noir he obviously failed to impress her, but Adrien still had a chance. At least he hoped. And he wanted to know what was going on with her lately.

It wasn't ideal. Not nearly. Why would she share such a personal matters with him, a stranger, a mere civilian? But maybe after some light-hearted chat and getting to know each other she at least would mention what was wrong with her and Chat. He would be happy with just a few comments hinted here and there, giving him something he could cling into as clue to figure it out what had he done to make her act the way she did.

He would be happier if he could discus this matter with her personalty – hero personalty – but sadly the result of the contest took away his best chance so he had to confide in his second best.

They say people confide easier in strangers when they can't talk about their problems with anyone they know. It help them release the tension and makes their heart lighter. At least this was what Nino had told him for many times now. And he was the only source of information and encouragement he knew, he could only trust in his advices. Okay, maybe sometimes he checked on google if his best friend told him utter nonsense or not. Confirming things wasn't a crime after all.

He had so many things to do, so many things to prepare and so many things to plan.

So he jumped up and looked around with determination and an eager fire within his eyes. Only to fell back straight into his bed. Because he had no idea what he should do.

Okay, maybe he should have thought about this yesterday after he had got back home, but he was so busy thinking about Marinette and his Lady that he… kind of forgot. And now reality crashed down at him and he started to panic.

''What should I dooo?" He whined while rolling from one side of the bed to the other, wrapping his blanket up and down around his body during the process until he startled himself and with a miscalculated roll and a huge yelp he found himself on the floor. He pouted in his embarrassment as Plagg laughed his head off from his spot in midair.

Adrien rolled his eyes. ''You are useful as usually."

''Don't blame me for your distress lover-boy. It's not my fault you turn into a love sick fool whenever a girl with bluebell eyes and midnight hair shows up!" The kwami stated with a knowing smirk.

''What are you implying?" Adrien asked the suspicious creature with narrowed eyes.

''Oh come on! Please put two and two together, or at least try it!" Plagg gestured with his little paws exasperatedly at him, then crossed them in front of his little chest and waited for him to start thinking.

The blond narrowed his eyes even more, furrowed his eyebrows and concentrated really hard. The gears in his brain turned and he started to realize something. ''Plagg…"

''Yes?" The kwami asked hopefully but still somewhat vary.

''How could I miss this for so long…" He said with a shuddered breath.

Plagg was on the edge, his eyes wide, his hopes skyrocketing. Only to be destroyed by his chosen's next sentence.

''I have a type!" He cried out with self-contempt and buried his face into his arms. ''I am the worst pervert ever!"

''No… you are just a fucking idiot. The fuckingest idiot ever." The cat sprite groaned and floated to his beloved Camembert to find comfort in this harsh world full of stupidity and obliviousness.

After approximately 10 minutes of self-loathing Adrien was still lying on the floor, pressing his cheek to the cold material. His eyes wandered around aimlessly when they fell upon a certain box under his bed. He grinned and immediately got up to pull out and put his 'treasure chest' on his bed. He examined the label 'my precious' then opened it carefully, not to ruin anything inside.

A few sketches, a couple of 'borrowed' pencils, some pictures, a dropped lip-gloss – nothing gross… it's not like he used it on his own lips or anything… - and that precious bracelet he got as a gift directly from Marinette were the only things inside the box. Looking around, eyeing his room interior he had to admit his small Marinette box was nothing compared to the entire wall dedicated to Ladybug. He had almost all the merchandise available and many exclusive photos of her. He even had a body pillow that he commissioned with Nathaniel.

'Would a half Ladybug, half Marinette body pillow be weird?' He contemplated, but ultimately had to dismiss the idea. If the tomato boy still had a thing for his Princess there was no way he would help him. Maybe he would even out him as the utmost pervert he was. What was he thinking anyway? A half ladybug, half Marinette body pillow? Seriously? No, two body pillows were definitely better than one. Maybe there were others out there he could commission one. He should search on google or something.

But then a thought struck him. 'What if Nathaniel already has a Marinette body pillow? That damn pervert, snuggling up against my Princess! How dare he?!' He gritted his teeth. He seriously had to check on this suspicious boy. He couldn't have any creeps like him near her. His precious princess.

''Adrien, stop this already and give me Camembert!" His kwami whined from above, finally getting his attention. The blond glanced at him, then rolled his eyes and went back to his thoughts, but of course, Plagg didn't leave him alone this easily. ''Adrien, give me my cheese or you will dearly regret it. And it will be very soon." The cat said on a dangerously low voice.

The blond huffed and finally gave him his full focus. ''Plagg, you just ate up the last stock of that stinky cheese except the emergency wheel, but that is for as its name implicates, for emergencies."

''My hunger is a serious emergency, give me that cheese!" The kwami flew right to his face and jumped up and down annoyed.

''No, it's not. An akuma attack is an emergency, your endless gluttony isn't. If I always gave you Camembert when you wanted you would be the size and weight of a cannonball, and I would go bankrupt even with all the money I have." He retorted back.

''You should be grateful the great me lend you the power to turn into Chat Noir! Now give me that cheese!" Plagg bumped his head into Adrien's head, narrowing his eyes.

The boy did the same and showed the kwami out of his face. ''No, Plagg. You can't have always what you want. Deal with it like the 5000 years old god you are."

''So you deny the demand of a sacred creature? Defy the god of misfortune and destruction?"

''Okay, you almighty god." Adrien said as he crossed his arms in front of him. ''If you are that powerful why don't you get that Camembert yourself instead of begging to a lowly human like me?"

''So you want to play the game like this?" Plagg's eyes were now only a slit, a plan forming in his mind.

''Oh, just wait for lunch already. You can bear a few hours without cheese. I have my plate full with Ladybug's visit and all of this mess." The boy rolled his eyes and sat down on his bed, his thoughts already elsewhere, so he didn't notice the evil smirk that formed on his kwami's lips.

''You want this meeting to be perfectly, don't you?" The cat asked with a smug smirk.

''Of course, I want to break the wall between us and get her to open up to me, so I will have a chance to set right our partnership. I have no idea what's going on with her these days." Adrien sighed with a deep frown.

''Really? You have no idea? Not at all?" Th kwami rolled his eyes, but was ready to set his plan into motion.

''What do you mean?" The blond looked at him expectantly.

''Nothing." Plagg lied. In fact he wanted to tell the truth to the boy so badly and watch his reaction – he was sure it would be priceless – but Tikki would kill him, they had rules after all. And… he already made his plan how to do it so it would work out and he would eventually have his fun and revenge. Oh, his revenge was going to be sweet like Camembert. He wanted to smirk maliciously, but now wasn't the time. This was time for start a chain of events with some help here and there. ''I was just thinking. What will you do with all of your Ladybug stuff?"

''Why do you ask?" Adrien arched an eyebrow clearly confused. Plagg wanted to roll his eyes again, but he had to make himself appear as innocent as his reputation allowed for now, to avoid any unwanted suspicion.

''Do you want to let Ladybug see all of your ladybug merchandise from the posters to the action figures to the full size body pillow?"

The boy's eyes went wide. ''She can't see them!" He ran up and down frantically waving his arms as he started to panic. ''I should hide them immediately!"

''Calm down, Adrien. It's like 8 in the morning. You only have one photoshoot and Ladybug will only show up at 2 pm, so you will still have like 3 hours to clean up and everything."

''But what will I do?! I don't have programs, topics, or anything to entertain her prepared! And I have to clean up all of this or she will think I am an obsessed fanboy and would never want to see me again!"

''Adrien, you are an obsessed fanboy and sometimes a damn stalker." Plagg stated with a deadpan expression.

''You are not helping!" The blond shouted, panic evident in his voice.

''They say if she loves you, she should love you for the person you are. And you are a stalker, deal with it."

''I am not!" Adrien retorted back.

The cat raised an eyebrow then gestured to all to the particular collection of photos taken secretly during night patrols.

''Those are just… observations." The boy said averting his gaze.

''Yeah, observations." Plagg said completely unconvinced.

''It's not like others don't have those kind of pictures of her taken randomly without her permission." He was now sulking over the accusation.

''If you say so."

Before the conversation could go any further a female voice sounded from the other side of the door. ''Adrien, come down for breakfast. We should leave in half an hour. I hope you are ready." Nathalie said in her usual neutral tone.

The blond looked down to his pajama shirt and short and started to panic yet again. ''Almost! I will be ready in 10 minutes!" He shouted back then ran right into his bathroom.

Adrien was already gone but Plagg still heard the sigh from behind the door. ''Teenage boys…"

Soon after that they were off to the photoshoot and as the blond had predicted it had lasted a couple of hours before they got back into the mansion. The boy burst inside his room with determination. Looking at his considerable huge collection, he had to admit yet again that his Ladybug-obsession got overboard at some point. Scanning his room immediately for a good hiding place he found his walk-in wardrobe to be the perfect choice, so he started to remove methodically every poster, photo, action figure or other merchandise and carefully place them inside their new place.

The kwami watched all of this without another word. He got some Camembert after the shoot, but of course, he was hungry yet again. But he had a plan and he would stick with it no matter what. So he followed the events with watchful eyes, but without any complains, advices or remarks. He just kept waiting for the right moment with a smug smile and it eventually came.

''Huh, I am finished. Every ladybug related thing is removed and hidden now." Adrien said as – after approximately one and half hours – he placed the last cardboard figure inside and pushed the door shut with all his weight. ''Now I just have to plan out the afternoon and take a shower, and I still have plenty of time!" He stated cheerfully and with a final push closed the door behind himself.

Plagg smiled at him innocently. ''It's all good and fine, Adrien, but…"

The blond looked up at him, eyeing him wearily. ''But what?"

''But how will you find the perfect outfit to meet your Lady, when you stuffed all your stuff inside that wardrobe you supposed to get your clothes from?" The cat pointed out while gesturing at the boy disheveled state. ''You didn't plan on using your sweaty clothes again after you took a shower, did you?"

Adrien's eyes widened. ''No, I have to get changed! What should I do, Plagg?! I have no time!"

''Just use your brain already. The answer is right there." The kwami answered calmly and floated to sit on the table, getting comfortable to watch the boy's struggles.

Adrien looked back and fort between Plagg and the door in despair then teared the door open and started to get out all the stuff he stuffed inside previously. Of course, the cat knew he would react like that. This was the reason he voiced his advice so vaguely in the first place. The model boy with a designer father didn't even think about asking Nathalie for a different outfit or something like that. No, he wasn't like that, he just couldn't think straight when panicked. Don't get him wrong, Plagg knew Adrien was smart and even sharp at sometimes, but quick-witted was not a characteristic of his. He could never think up a strategy and keep his cool in times of dread. And he constantly forgot to use his brain, especially when a certain Mari-bug girl was involved.

Plagg grinned. They were so alike. Basically the same. The perfect match. But he had a vendetta to fulfill, and anyway… he had his preferences when it came to the love square's ships.

When Adrien removed all the things from his wardrobe again he spent a fat 15 minutes to choose an outfit worthy to wear it in Ladybug's presence. Then he rushed to place all the merchandise and private photos back inside and ran a hand through his hair when he was finally finished, giving a last push and closing the door again.

''Finally." He sighed in relief and glanced at the clock. ''Holy shit! Plagg, I still need to get a shower and I am out of time, and didn't get any idea for programs, and have to hurry up, and oh my god! I still have to get some snacks for us! What should I do?!" The blond was frantically running up and down in his room with his sudden panic-attack.

The kwami eyed him for some time, waiting for him to calm down a little, but when it didn't happen within a minute or so, his patience ran thin and he yelled at his charge. ''Adrien, tone it down! You have still half an hour till the meeting, for god's sake!"

Adrien looked up at him with teary eyes. ''But Plagg, I don't know what to do…"

The cat's eyes widened, then he shook his head with a groan. ''Drama queen…" He sighed and locked a fiery gaze with the boy who immediately stopped panicking and was intently listening to him. ''Listen carefully kid. Go and get your personal chef to make some snacks for you, then go and take a relaxing shower. During the time you calm yourself down and get some well needed chill you don't have, I will think up something entertaining and memorable enjoyment. This way everything will work out in the end, got it?" Adrien only stared back at him completely speechless, so the kwami repeated himself in a firmer tone. ''Got it, kid?"

''G-got it!" He shook himself out of his stupor and ran to call his chef. ''I get snacks then I get a shower!"

Plagg nodded approvingly and floated back to the couch. The blond did just as he was told. He ordered some cupcakes as an additional to his healthy food. He wasn't sure Ladybug would enjoy that stuff he was usually forced to eat as normal people eat much more tasty things than him. ''Order some Camembert too!"

''Not now Plagg! You just had your lunch portion and some more, you can endure a few more hours without it."

The kwami almost felt sorry for the boy for what was awaiting for him, but it was all cool now. And in the end, it will benefit him more than anyone. But he was in for some suffering before that. ''Are you sure you want to play this game, kid?" He asked smugly, but the boy half ignored him and took of to take that shower.

''Oh, I need to set my alarm. It would be bad if I spent to much time in the shower. Fifteen minutes should be more than enough and I will still have fifteen minutes to spare and make myself look nice. " He picked up his phone and set up an alarm then placed it back on his bed and ran into the bathroom.

Plagg floated above the clothes sprawled out on the bed his charge was planing to wear but decided to leave outside. Big mistake. Fatal mistake. The kwami carefully picked up the boxer then throw it under the bed. He flew to a drawer pulling it out and took out a very red and black polka-dot underwear. ''Perfect." He placed the new one under the jeans to hide it.

He then floated to another calling device on the nightstand and called the kitchen again.

''Yes? Do you want something else beside the snacks you already ordered M Agreste?" Came the answer almost immediately.

Plagg in his best Adrien-voice said. ''No addiction, but could you please make everything ladybug-themed with lots of hearts?"

''Ladybug-themed with hearts?" The chef asked back confused.

''Yeah, lots of hearts. As many as possible. Everything must be lovely~" The kwami said in a sing-song voice.

''Okay… if you say so…" The man on the other end answered uncertainly then added. ''Anything else?"

''Oh yes, some Camembert would be nice."

''Again?!"

''Yep, thanks for everything!" He quickly ended the call before he could be found out and prepared himself to execute the final touch of his plan, so he floated above the phone and eyed the device while contemplating. ''Hm, should I postpone the alarm and make him run up and down in panic for a few minutes?" He thought about it then an evil grin spread across his face. ''Nah, this stupid alarm isn't needed at all." And he pressed a few buttons to turn it off with a satisfied smirk.

''Now, the only thing what's needed is Ladybug." The kwami was thinking about what to do for the next 30 minutes, Deciding it was the best opportunity to check on his e-mails without any disturbance, he flew to the computer and turned it on. ''Oh, this will be so much fun."

He checked if he got any message form Tikki first and as he was expecting he found one. Opening it he just ran through the sentences if she wrote anything interesting for a change. ''Pep talk, pep talk, pep talk… and oh, more pep talk! This woman never gets tired of this." He rolled his eyes and yawned, then wrote back one single sentence. ''I love you too." And hit send with a smirk.

He then decided to check the ladyblog as well and he was surprised when he found a message from no other than the lady-blogger herself. An evil grin spread across his feature. ''This will be interesting for sure." And he immediately started to write a reply to her. He probably would have to work through the night but he was sure as hell accepting the request.

~~~OOO~~~

Adrien stood in his shower and left the hot water roam free across his skin, washing away his worries, calming his nerves. Everything should go perfect. He would be looking and smell nice, be his charming self, they would have a few games then a nice talk. His Lady would be breath-taking as always so he could be nothing less.

He really enjoyed his time. He often took showers when he was nervous, this was the best way to tone out the outside world and have some alone time without the constantly complaining and whining of his kwami. Plagg wasn't a huge fan of water so he usually stayed away.

He sighed in content. Everything would be alright. It should be. It had to be. He couldn't bomb his last chance to get out whatever bothered Ladybug. He had hours to accomplish his master plan: a little distraction here, a little heart to heart talk there, and she would open up. Even if it was just a little. Adrien really only wanted to know if she was alright and didn't hate Chat or anything.

He frowned a little at the thought but quickly dismissed it to give place more pleasant ones. Like the afternoon tomorrow he was going to spend with Marinette. He grinned to himself. It would be pawsome if he could bond with his Princess, they not so often had the time and definitely not as Marinette and Chat Noir. Don't get him wrong, he loved to spend time with their friends and Mari was an angel even with Adrien, but she didn't really like him so she was always somewhat reserved around him. So now, even if her family would be present it was still an unique and rare opportunity to see the real Mari and he could be more himself as Chat giving a bonus to all of it.

He felt himself calm and happy again, but something was weird. He could have sworn he spent more time in the shower then 15 minutes, but if that was true his alarm should have went off already, but he didn't hear anything. Maybe his sense of time wasn't that good inside his own world. Then suddenly a loud yell alarmed him from outside of the bathroom door.

''AKUUUMAAA!" Plagg shouted and Adrien's eyes went wide.

''Why now of all times!" He mumbled in frustration while he grabbed a towel before running outside. Of course, he had to left his clothes outside now of all times and that little pest couldn't just come inside to transform him. Hm, maybe it wasn't the best idea to transform naked. If he ran out of time and transformed back in the middle of the city… it would be pretty bothersome to hide while getting Camembert to transform – and who would give a naked boy Camembert without any money in the first place – and if somebody found him and took a picture it would be more than scandalous. He cringed at the idea. Towel in hand frantically wiping his wet body he ran outside of his bathroom… ''Where is the akuma?!"

To meet face to face with a wide-eyed Ladybug.

~~~OOO~~~

Five minutes earlier.

Ladybug just arrived in front of the Agreste mansion with a thud, retracting her trusty yo-yo. She already knew her way around, so she pressed the calling button next to the gate confidently. Within a few seconds a composed and neutral female voice answered. ''How can I help you?"

''Hi, I am Ladybug. I came to spend the afternoon with Adrien Agreste as he won the prize of the Miraculous Contest." She said with as much professionalism as she could. Fortunately or not she got a lot of practice as the reporters and fans never left her alone.

''This is the first time I hear about this. Are you sure you came to the right place?" The woman asked with suspicion.

''Yes, I am sure. Please, ask M Agreste, he would confirm it." Ladybug said still in a happy tone with confidence and was waiting for the answer.

Nathalie eyed her through the robot eye. She indeed looked like Ladybug, but nowadays pretty well-made fan-costumes were available. Adrien hadn't said a word about this to her, but it wouldn't be the first time the blond forgot to mention something important. Son like father after all. Her only option was to call Adrien and ask him personalty so she hit the calling button and waited for him to pick up. A strange, not-so-Adrien-like voice answered. ''Hello?"

She arched an eyebrow. It was a little weird but who else would answer the phone in his place. ''Here is some girl claiming she is Ladybug and has a meeting with you arranged to this afternoon."

''I don't have a meeting with any girl." The voice answered.

''So should I remove her? Is she a stalker?"

''She is definitely a fan. Don't harm her, she probably means no danger."

''As you wish." Nathalie ended the call finding it strange. She knew how much a Ladybug fan Adrien was, so him being this calm about the thing and not even wanting to see the girl was pretty weird. She shrugged it of in the end and called back the girl who still stood outside waiting. ''Sorry mile, but M Agreste couldn't confirm your identity or the meeting you are claiming you two agreed on so you should leave this place and if you are persistent I will have the security remove you."

When the call ended and the robot eye retracted inside the wall Ladybug just stood there wide-eyed. She was speechless for half a minute or so but after the first shock, the woman's response sunk in and she yelled in frustration. ''What the heck?! I was supposed to meet up with him! How could she send me away?!"

She paced up and down on the pavement, a few pedestrians giving her funny looks. She stopped abruptly. She couldn't act all crazy like she was an actual stalker. This had to be a misunderstanding. Maybe the assistant hadn't even asked Adrien just sent her away. Yeah, it had to be that!

Ladybug looked up with determination, scanning her surroundings. There was no way she would miss out a chance to spend time with Adrien when she could be in the suit and be all composed and confident. There had to be a way for her to get inside. She took out her yo-yo and pulled herself up to a nearby rooftop for better angle. She looked the mansion up and down searching for a way to get inside and there it was! Her eyes caught on an open window, and it was a window to Adrien's room. ''Just perfect." She mumbled to herself while finding the perfect route to reach it from her spot. She angled herself then jumped, her aiming perfect as always.

She got herself on the edge of the window then scanned the inside of the room. ''Adrien." She whispered. ''Adrien." She whispered a little louder, but there was still no answer and she couldn't see anyone inside, so she slid down on the glass and let herself in. She could faintly hear running water from behind a door and she remembered the door led to the bathroom. Her eyes went wide for a second but she decided that it was best if she knocked and let her presence be known, so she walked closer to the door and was about the reach out and knock when the door suddenly flew open and she came face to face with a very unclothed Adrien Agreste practically running into her.

Adrien stopped just before he could crash into her with full speed, a few drops of water from his hair landing on her masked face. They looked at each other with wide eyes. Slowly her eyes drifting down on his body to his-

''No!" The blond cried out mortified and hid his manly part with the towel, a fierce blush exploding on his entire face. ''I am sorry, please don't look!"

Ladybug's eyes went back to his, bright red color covering her cheeks as well. She was utterly speechless.

''I am sorry, I will be right back! Please, don't go anywhere!" He yelled with despair as he scrambled up all his clothes from his bed with one hand – keeping the towel in place with the other – and ran back inside the bathroom.

The girl's hand slowly reaching up to touch her wet cheeks. Wet from the water that came from Adrien's body! She was fine. She was going to be fine. Nope. She was dead. So dead.

Inside the bathroom our young hero was having a complete meltdown as he was frantically putting on his clothes, giving no much thought at the moment how he looked like. At least he was clothed and not dangling his member freely around his Lady like an utter pervert. ''How the hell have this happened?" He asked himself in a strangled scream, careful not to give himself away to the girl standing outside.

His mind was racing a mile per second but he didn't need much time to come to the obvious conclusion. ''Plagg!" He said through gritted teeth. ''What is that little pest up to this time?"

Adrien hoped, really hoped the little traitor had his fun and he didn't have anything else coming for him after this. Oh, how wrong he was.

The boy took a deep breath and walked outside to meet the still very embarrassed heroine. ''I am really, really sorry for what just happened. I should have been already ready and fully clothed when you arrived." He rubbed the back of his head nervously, not daring to meet her in the eye. She didn't say anything, as she was still in her short circuiting state and couldn't utter any articulately word. He got even more nervous, so he decided to keep apologizing until she said something. ''I am really, truly sorry. I should never have-"

''Don't be. It wasn't that bad of a view!" She blurted out before she could stop herself to her utmost horror.

Well, this wasn't the answer Adrien was expecting. His eyes shot up to see Ladybug, her face so red it completely blend in with her suit. ''What…?"

''I-I d-didn't mean it like t-that! You know! You know… you just-just look… pretty…?" She trailed off when she realized she couldn't get herself out of this no matter what she said.

''…T-thanks…?" Adrien asked uncertainly, looking anywhere but her. ''You-you are pretty t-too." He said and as well realized too late what had he done. ''S-sorry! I-I didn't mean to sex-''

''What?!" Ladybug cut him off mid-sentence, her eyes couldn't be wider. They were almost round and big as saucers by now. He wanted to say he didn't mean to sexualize her, but he couldn't find it in himself to finish that sentence now. ''Pretty… sex… hook up…" He could hear as she mumbled out these words dazzled and took a step back. No! She was thinking he was a pervert! He had to do something and fast! He couldn't have her leave thinking about him as the most disgusting freak she had ever came across!

''I didn't mean to! Let me explain, please! I was just taking a shower to clean myself after the photoshoot and somehow my alarm didn't go off and I accidentally left my clothes outside! I don't want anything weird from you, I swear!" Adrien was trying to explain himself as best he could, half begging half rambling his voice filled with terror.

Ladybug let out a nervous giggle, still not meeting his eyes. ''It's okay, Adrien. I get it. You are not like that." The boy somewhat calmed down after her words but he could still feel her uneasiness. ''The only thing I don't understand why your assistant didn't let me in when I came."

''Oh no, I completely forgot to tell her. I am so sorry!" He apologized yet again while pulling on his hair out of frustration when a thought struck him. ''Wait. If she didn't let you in, how did you get inside?" He turned his gaze to her and she was staring back at him with wide eyes. 'Well, shit.' She thought to herself and instantly started rambling.

''I… I didn't want to leave… Yes that was it! So I didn't want to leave without at least trying to speak with you. It wouldn't have been fair to you after you won the contest fair and square. And I saw your window open so I decided to check in, because I don't know your number to call you, so I went to the window but couldn't see you and I got worried and so I came inside, then I heard the noises coming from the bathroom and I am so sorry I intruded into your personal space, but I didn't know what to do! And I was so embarrassed I decided to knock but in that exact moment the door burst open and you ran outside and you were naked and I didn't know what to do and I am so sorry!" With every word she became more desperate to get him understand she wasn't a lowly stalker – even if she was – and her frantic arm gestures got wilder and wilder with every second.

''No! No! I am sorry because I didn't tell Nathalie you were supposed to come!" He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, both of them laughing awkwardly outside, crying inside.

'He thinks I am the worst stalker.'

'She thinks I am an utter pervert.'

They thought at the same time and didn't say another word that resulted in an awkward silence, the air filled with tension between them. They stood there for another minute without anyone saying anything, the mood getting heavier as the time passed, before a knock came from the door and they turned to its direction. ''M Agreste, the snacks are here."

A man said from outside and Adrien immediately answered with a ''Come in!"

He motioned to Ladybug to follow him and he led her to sit down on the couch while the staff members placed all the trays in front of them to the table, some of them sneaking a glance or two at the heroine before leaving the room.

And again they were there, alone, sitting in the same awkward silence.

Adrien cleared his throat to get the girl's attention. ''Are you hungry? Or do you want some drink perhaps?"

''No, I am fine." She answered quickly, never looking in his direction.

Then they sat there on the couch looking at the trays with unfocused eyes and didn't know what more to say. After two more minutes of awkward silence – this started to became an unit of measurement for them – Ladybug spoke up to finally break this silent madness. ''I think I am indeed hungry after all." She said with a smile that came out rather as a cringe.

''Right, go ahead! Choose what you like!" He encouraged her, happy that they finally started to talk only to see all his hopes disappearing as she uncovered one of the trays. It had some sandwiches. Colored in red with black polka-dots. And huge – I mean HUGE – hearts on them.

Ladybug was staring at the sandwiches with wide eyes for the umpteenth time since she arrived, wordless as ever.

Plagg was watching the scene in front of him from one of the bookshelves with an overly satisfied smirk. 'I was curious what did they pull off in this short time.'

Adrien took the lid out of her hand and placed it back on the tray. ''Let's try out something else!" He tried to sound cheerful to cover up his inner meltdown with little success as his voice cracked. He lifted up the lid from another tray revealing fancy fruit salads. With big red polka-dot hearts. He slammed the lid back in place and tried another one only to find little ladybug macaroons with hearts instead of spots.

The kwami had to stifle his laughter to remain unnoticed.

'How the hell did they made all of these in just half an hour!' Adrien groaned inwardly while he searched for any tray that didn't hide unpleasant surprises to him but so far he didn't find any. And while he was mushing about how could all of this happening to him all at once in the most important afternoon of his life, he was distracted enough to miss as Ladybug lifted up the lid of the last tray they didn't check until now. His attention shot back at the heroine as soon as he heard the metal lid hit the floor.

She was staring down at the tray in front of her. He followed her gaze fearfully and gulped.

There they were. The cupcakes. Bright red. Each with one tiny ladybug. And lots of hearts. But what made them the worst out of the entire menu was the label written… On. Each. And. Every. One. Of. Them.

'I love you' stood the statement proud and bold on every cupcake and the only thing he could be thankful was they didn't write any 'from Adrien' or 'LB + AA' or anything like that on them.

But really, that was the only thing he could be grateful, because every other thing possibly embarrassing was accomplished in them. Like you would say 'Oh mom, my crush is coming over today, could you make some cookies with 'I love you' written on them? Thanks!'. He could die from embarrassment right there and then. Or he really really wanted at least. How could he survive this!

Plagg was rolling on the floor above them crying his eyes out. 'This is too good!'

''Uhm… you must be a fan, right?" Ladybug asked nervously, picking up and placing the lid back on the tray.''Could I have a drink instead?"

''Oh, right! Yes, of course!" He shot up and grabbed one of the glasses from the table. ''What do you want to drink?"

''Some orange juice would be nice." She showed that sweet smile of her and took the glass when he handed it to her without any more complication.

'At least the drinks aren't ladybug-themed.' He told himself and let out a sigh of relief. He glanced around, searching for the perpetrator, but didn't find him. He was hiding somewhere out of sight, but in the second Ladybug would be out of the room the blond was going to find him and strangle the damn mangy cat!

Ladybug took big sips of the orange juice and gulped to calm herself down. ''So you are a ladybug fan?"

''I wouldn't say I am a crazy fan…" He started but as Ladybug glanced at the trays and back at him with the look of pure disbelief he trailed off, then with a sigh he confessed. ''But I am a fan. It's true."

The girl had the bite down a 'you don't say' before she could smile at the boy to reassure him. ''That's not something you should feel ashamed of! Most of Paris are either mine or Chat Noir's fan."

The blond's eyes shot open. This was his chance to ask her about Chat! ''Oh, and how is Chat doing? You have a good relationship with him? Does he annoy you? Do you dislike him?"

Plagg looked at his charge with an deadpan expression. 'Really Adrien? Shooting the questions right at her so directly. It sure going to work…' He rolled his eyes.

''No, I don't dislike him or anything!" She shouted out without thinking jumping up, then immediately falling back on the couch as the words left her mouth. Her face turning red right away and she averted her gaze.

The cat snickered. 'And it worked! I can't believe it. But as oblivious as Adrien is I doubt it got through his dense mind.'

Adrien looked at her puzzled. What kind of reaction was that? She didn't say anything other than that, just sat there wordlessly as another awkward silence was filling up the air around them. Should he push the topic further or should he change the subject entirely?

He wanted to find out what her reaction meant so he decided to push it a little further. But before that he needed the lift the mood or at least loosen it. ''Do you want to look around in my room?" He asked with a smile.

''Yeah, sure." She answered on a strangled voice and stood up without looking at him. She walked around, looking at everywhere but not truly looking at anything. She seemed to be lost in thoughts.

''So what do you think?" Adrien asked and it startled the girl out of thoughts.

''About what?"

''About Chat." He smiled encouragingly, still hoping for an answer.

She let out a strangled noise and turned away from him.

'Impatient as ever.' Plagg was sure now his chosen was an idiot. He could not watch this teen drama any longer. He was here for fun. And if fun what he wants then fun what he gets.

They heard a rumble from inside the wardrobe and Ladybug eyed the wooden door vary. ''What was that?"

Adrien looked at the door then back at Ladybug. Then back at the door then back at Ladybug again faster, his eyes going wide. ''Nothing!" He yelled but the heroine already walked to the door, but before she could try to open the locked door it burst open, ladybug merchandise flooding everywhere.

After one moment of utter mortification Adrien jumped into action – literally – and landed right on the ladybug body pillow. ''It's nothing!"

Ladybug was speechless yet again for a few seconds before she opened her mouth to ask. ''Is that a-''

''No!" He shouted and with the pillow held tight in his embrace he rolled away on the floor and jumped to his feet a few meters away from her.

''Adrien, what are you doing?" The girl asked. She didn't know what was happening anymore. She looked down to all the ladybug posters and action figures and were those-

''No!" After the blond throw the body pillow behind his bed he ran back and flung himself at the – not so stalkerish – pictures, covering them with his body. ''There is nothing to see!"

''But that is-'' She started gesturing to one of the picture that remained uncovered.

''No!" He shouted again, scrambling to his feet while grabbing as many pictures as he could. ''They are not!"

''But they were-'' Ladybug said on a more composed voice, slowly getting back to her senses.

''Nope! They weren't!" He backed away from her with the pictures behind his back.

''But they were!" She said that now in a firm voice and stepped towards him.

''No, they weren't!" He backed away further.

''Yes, they were!" She said annoyed, not from the stalkerish pictures, but him denying the obvious truth.

''Nope!" Adrien shook his head with full denial and continued to back away from her.

''Adrien, show me the pictures!" She demanded following him.

''What pictures?"

''Oh, don't play dumb! The pictures of me you are hiding behind your back!" Ladybug was fully annoyed by the boy now. ''Show me them. Now."

''Nope!" Adrien said stubbornly.

She narrowed her eyes and growled. ''Give. Me. Those. Pictures."

''You can forget about that." The boy said confidently, but inside he was freaking out and terrified by his partner.

''Give them to me! Now!" Ladybug shouted before she vaulted herself towards to boy, who prepared to dodge. But neither of them saw as a certain cat's eyes shone up.

'Fuuuun.'

Ladybug tripped over air and Adrien couldn't dodge. The heroine was falling to the ground with high speed and she grabbed the first thing her hands touched pulling it down with her. Whatever she grabbed didn't stop or break her fall and she hit the hard floor with a groan.

'Why do I trip even when I am Ladybug? Shouldn't I be lucky or something?' She brought a hand to her chin the rub the sore spot, her eyes still closed. She heard as papers scattered to the floor and she opened her eyes to see the pictures were all around her lying on the ground. She had a bad feeling.

Slowly her eyes focused on the thing she grabbed during her fall and saw that it was indeed Adrien's jeans, now entirely pulled down to the ground by her. Then her eyes wandered up on his legs to find a very flattering red and black polka-dot underwear and an identically red Adrien.

Her eyes almost fell out of their holes.

''I-I am so s-sorry, Adrien! I didn't mean to-'' She began to say as she raised to her knees and grabbed the edges of the jeans again to pull them up. But her movement halted as one too familiar voice hit their ears and the door flew open.

''Oh, leave me alone. I am here to help my bro!" An annoyed Nino entered to the room.

''You were banned from the mansion, please leave immediately!" An identically annoyed Nathalie followed him.

''I won't leave until I sp-'' The Dj began to say before he stopped abruptly eyes going comically wide.

Nathalie wanted to say something but seeing his frozen state she followed his gaze only to froze in place as well.

Before them stood an Adrien, his back facing them while Ladybug knelt in front of him, her head hidden by the boy's body, in the exact level to-

''Holy shit!" Was the only thing Nino could utter out before he started to walk backwards. ''Sorry, bro. I didn't want to interrupt!" He dragged the still frozen Nathalie with himself out of the room.

''Nino, wait! It's not what you think it-'' Adrien started but the door already slammed shut.

The boy slowly looked back at the girl still kneeling in front of him clutching the edge of his jeans in her hands. A cringe spread across her face. ''Ni-nice underwear…" She said in a strangled voice before she stood up eventually and with a couple of well directed jumps fled the room through the window.

Plagg chose this exact moment to show up flipping in the air with laughter. ''Hhahahahaha! Kid! This was pure gold! You should have seen your faces! Our your Dj buddy's face! It was priceless!"

''I am dead."

''Noooo you are noooot." The kwami said, still shaking with laughter.

''I should be, because this is hell."

''You are over dramatic yet again." Plagg paused to roll his eyes, but when the events of just a few minutes earlier came back to his mind he started to snicker then laugh with full force again. When he could catch his breath the kwami wiped away a few stray tears. ''And what was today's lesson, kid?"

Adrien glanced up at Plagg with tired eyes.

The kwami was floating away to get his well-earned Camembert but not before he turned and glanced back at him smugly. ''Never deny cheese."


End file.
